''Buddha — Rajaon Ka Raja'' (titled as ''Buddha — The King of Kings'') is an

Indian classical drama The term Indian classical drama refers to the tradition of dramatic literature and performance in ancient India. The roots of drama in the Indian subcontinent can be traced back to the Rigveda (1200-1500 BCE), which contains a number of hymns in ...

Zee TV Zee TV (stylised as ZEE TV) is a Hindi general entertainment pay television channel in India. It was launched on 2 October 1992, as the first privately owned TV channel in the country. It is owned by Zee Entertainment Enterprises. Zee TV also ...

and

DD National DD National (formerly DD1) is a state-owned public entertainment television channel in India. It is the flagship channel of Doordarshan, India's public service broadcaster, and the oldest and most widely available terrestrial television channe ...

, produced by Bhupendra Kumar Modi, under the banner Spice Global. The creative producer of the show is Shetall Singh. The show first aired on Sunday, 8 September 2013 on Zee TV and Doordarshan. The programme stars

Kabir Bedi Kabir Bedi ( pa, ਕਬੀਰ ਸਿੰਘ ਬੇਦੀ; born 16 January 1946) is an Indian actor. His career has spanned three continents covering India, the United States and especially Italy among other European countries in three media: fi ...

in a cameo role as

Asita Asita or Kaladevala or Kanhasiri was a hermit ascetic depicted in Buddhist sources as having lived in ancient India. He was a teacher and advisor of Suddhodana, the father of the Buddha, and is best known for having predicted that prince Siddhar ...

Muni, the sage who announces the coming of

Gautama Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in L ...

. The story of the serial is based on the life of Gautama Buddha that shows how a prince, Siddhartha, became a Buddha. The role of

Mayadevi Queen Māyā of Shakya ( sa, मायादेवी, pi, Māyādevī) was the birth mother of Gautama Buddha, the sage on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. She was sister of Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī, the first Buddhist nun ordained by the ...

- scheduled to be played by Sameksha Singh - was replaced with Deepika Upadhyay. Himanshu Soni played the lead role of Buddha, while 2010 Miss India top ten finalist, Kajal Jain played Siddhartha Gautama's wife

Yaśodharā Yaśodharā ( pi, Yasodharā, sa, यशोधरा) was the wife of Prince Siddhartha — until he left his home to become a śramaṇa— the mother of Rāhula, and the sister of Devadatta. She later became a Buddhist Nun and is conside ...

. Earlier,

Ashutosh Gowariker Ashutosh Gowariker (born 15 February 1964) is an Indian film director, actor, screenwriter and producer who works in Hindi cinema. He is known for directing films "set on a huge canvas while boasting of an opulent treatment". His is particularl ...

wanted to collaborate with Shekhar Kapur for a television series on Buddha.

Cast

Himanshu Soni Himanshu Soni (born 1 February 1988) is an Indian actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Buddha in the series, Buddha-''Rajaon Ka Raja'.'' Early life Soni was born on 1 February 1988 in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India. He married, Sheetal ...

as Prince Siddharth /

Vishesh Bansal Vishesh Bansal (born 3 October 2004) is an Indian actor. He was brought up in Mumbai, India. He is known for portraying Harshal Gupta in '' Yeh Meri Family''. Career Bansal has acted in several shows, including the 2011 Triangle Film Company ...

as 10-year-old Prince Siddharth *

Sameer Dharmadhikari Sameer Dharmadhikari is an Indian film and television actor and model Popular for Playing the Role of Samrat Bindusara Maurya in Chakravartin Ashoka Samrat . He played the male lead in the Marathi film '' Nirop'' that won the National Award for ...

Śuddhodana Śuddhodana (; Pali: ''Suddhōdana''), meaning "he who grows pure rice," was the father of Siddhartha Gautama, better known as the Buddha. He was a leader of the Shakya, who lived in an oligarchic republic, with their capital at Kapilavastu. ...

, Buddha and Nanda's father * Deepika Upadhyay as Maya, Buddha's biological mother *

Gungun Uprari Gungun Uprari is an Indian actress who appears in Hindi TV shows. Gungun Uprari is known for her roles in serials like '' Bandhan Saat Janamon Ka'', '' Rakt Sambandh'', ''Haar Jeet'', '' Buddha'' and '' Jo Biwi Se Kare Pyaar''. Early life Gu ...

Prajapati Prajapati ( sa, प्रजापति, Prajāpati, lord and protector of creation) is a Vedic deity of Hinduism. In later literature, Prajapati is identified with the creator god Brahma, but the term also connotes many different gods, de ...

, Buddha's step mother and second wife of Suddhodana *

Muni * Dinesh Mehta as

King Pasenadi Pasenadi ( pi, पसेनदि ; sa, प्रसेनजित् ; c. 6th century BCE) was an ruler of Kosala. Sāvatthī was his capital. He succeeded after . He was a prominent (lay follower) of Gautama Buddha, and built many Buddh ...

, an avid follower of Buddha * Kajal Jain as

, Prince Siddharth's wife **

Ananya Agarwal Ananya Agarwal is an Indian television child actress. Career Ananya made her debut with '' Tujh Sang Preet Lagai Sajna'' as Prerna, and she was playing role in ''Amrit Manthan'' as Gurbani, daughter of Nimrit and Agam on Life OK Life OK ...

as Young

Meghan Jadhav Meghan Jadhav is an Indian television and film actor. He made his acting debut in 2006 with '' Raavan'' playing young Vibhishan and he is known for his acclaimed role in ''Jai Shri Krishna'' (2008–09) as Shri Krishna. He has also acted in ma ...

as Prince

Nanda Nanda may refer to: Indian history and religion * Nanda Empire, ruled by the Nanda dynasty, an Indian royal dynasty ruling Magadha in the 4th century BCE ** Mahapadma Nanda, first Emperor of the Nanda Empire ** Dhana Nanda (died c. 321 BCE), last ...

, Buddha's half-brother. * Jagat Singh as

Devadatta Devadatta was by tradition a Buddhist monk, cousin and brother-in-law of Gautama Siddhārtha. The accounts of his life vary greatly, but he is generally seen as an evil and divisive figure in Buddhism, who led a breakaway group in the ea ...

, Yasodhara's brother who is Buddha's enemy. ** Pravisht Mishra as Teenage

** Devyansh Tapuriah as Child

* Mayank Arora as

Ānanda Ānanda (5th4th century BCE) was the primary attendant of the Buddha and one of his ten principal disciples. Among the Buddha's many disciples, Ānanda stood out for having the best memory. Most of the texts of the early Buddhist '' Sutta-Pi� ...

, Buddha's cousin and the primary attendant. * Sanket Choukse as

Channa ''Channa'' is a genus of predatory fish in the family Channidae, commonly known as snakeheads, native to freshwater habitats in Asia. This genus contains about 50 scientifically described species. The genus has a wide natural distribution extend ...

, Buddha's best friend and charioteer. * Siddharth Vasudev as Dronadhan,

's second brother *

Nigaar Khan Nigaar Khan (born 2 May 1979) is an Indian television actress mainly known for her portrayal of negative characters. Early life Khan was born and brought up in Pune, Maharashtra. She is the elder sister of model-actress Gauahar Khan. Car ...

Reshmi Ghosh Reshmi Ghosh is an Indian beauty queen and actress. Early life Ghosh was born in 1978 and brought up in Kolkata. She attended school at Carmel Convent School (Class 10, 1995 batch). She graduated with a BA from Jogamaya Devi College in souther ...

as Mangala, Buddha's aunt and Dronadhan's wife * Abhiram /Yashdeep Nain as

Ajatashatru Ajatasattu (Pāli ) or Ajatashatru (Sanskrit ) in Buddhist tradition, or Kunika () and Kuniya () in the Jain histories, (c. 492 to 460 BCE or early 5th century BCE) was one of the most important kings of the Haryanka dynasty of Magadha in East ...

Hemant Choudhary Hemant Choudhary is an Indian actor who appears in Hindi serials, films and web series. Early life and career Hemant Choudhary was born in Godda, a small town in Jharkhand and brought up in Hazaribagh, Jharkhand. He completed his later educat ...

as Mahamantri Udyan * Sareeka Dhillon as Maanvika * Ghanshyam srivastva Brahman Magadh Rajguru *

Amit Behl Amit Behl is an Indian theatre, television and film actor. Behl began his career in 1994 with a role in India's first daily soap opera '' Shanti''. He later went on to do almost 100 TV serials in Hindi, English, Marathi, Punjabi and Urdu. He h ...

as Guru Vachaspati * Surbhi Shukla as Loshika, Dasi of Prajapati * Vandana Lalwani as Amita, Suddhodana's sister. * Neha Kaur Uppal as

Amrapali Āmrapālī, also known as "Ambapālika", "Ambapali", or "Amra" was a celebrated '' nagarvadhu'' (royal courtesan) of the republic of Vaishali (located in present-day Bihar) in ancient India around 500 BC. Following the Buddha's teachings, she ...

Plot

Born as Prince Siddhartha in the 6th century BC, after years of waiting and yearning, on a full moon night, to his parents King Shuddhodana and Queen Mahamaya, he was a unique child, even at birth. Carrying the 32 signs of greatness and predicted to be the savior of humankind by some, and a mighty king of kings by others, Siddhartha proved both the prophecies to be true. In his growing years, he was the ideal warrior prince, the pride of his father’s eyes and later to his lovely wife Yashodhara, he was the devoted and sensitive husband that all women dream of, but few are blessed with. Despite his father’s extreme protection of him from seeing suffering of any kind, lest he move towards fulfilling the latter prophecy of him being a thinker and philosopher, even as a child, Siddhartha, by his very nature, ever-questioned and pondered about all phenomena around him. Siddhartha wondered about all things- from social to physical and natural to man-made, and he was hugely compassionate and uncompetitive by nature. Siddhartha’s questions were not born out of the natural curiosity of a young boy about the world around, but of a deeply rational yet philosophical concern for the state of the world that he saw around him, and his devastation was compounded in his youth when the wall of protection from seeing suffering that his father had built around him, crumbled. Samadhi was an enlightenment, that shone not only his path on earth, but also showed the way forward for all mankind, that would illuminate the world with his teachings for thousands of years to come, as it gave birth to the Buddha-a word that today symbolizes truth, peace, love, compassion and righteousness that he stood for, like no other. It is no wonder then that there is a revival of the relevance of Buddha’s teachings and beliefs in the modern world. Most of the early episodes in the series center around the plotting of Dronadhan, Mangala, and Devadatta - the uncle, aunt, and cousin (brother) of Siddhartha - to undermine King Shuddhodana and kill Siddhartha. Their plots always fail, and the goodness of Siddhartha always wins and grows. Much of this drama as shown in the series is not actually part of the Buddha historical writings. Though Devadatta did have a rivalry with Siddhartha, it wasn't to the extent as shown in the series, where Devadatta and his parents abuse and kill numerous people. The series also shows an extreme rivalry between Siddhartha and Devadatta for the hand in marriage of Yashodhara, even to the point of a fighting contest to determine the best warrior. However, in genuine history, Yashodhara was actually Devadatta's sister. Still, the character of Siddhartha is dramatic and moving in many ways, and shows his deep respect for all life, whether it be a person, cheetah, duck, ant or scorpion, to whom he always shows forgiveness and mercy.

Production

Nidhi Yasha (costume & jewellery) and Varsha Jain (set designer) are main crew behind the sets and costumes on the show. The first shot of Buddha was taken at the magnanimous set created at the Film City in Mumbai on the auspicious occasion of Buddha Purnima on 27 May 2013.

International broadcast

Controversies

The cable operators of Nepal banned the series' telecast as it had announced in

promotional material In marketing, promotion refers to any type of marketing communication used to inform target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or issue, most of the time persuasive in nature. It helps marketers to create a distinctive pl ...

s that the Buddha was born in India (the actual location of Kapilavastu is uncertain, with sites in both India and Nepal suggested). Following outrage on Nepalese social media,

and

later apologized for the mistake. Other controversies related to the television series involved several details that were never mentioned anywhere in the Buddhist scriptures, such as: * The first wife of king

, a sterile woman, being able to bear a child after a yajna (offering to a fire) was held. * The name of Śuddhodana's brother being Durnodhan. * Everywhere, the existence of Brahmins is shown in the serial. The ''

Dīgha Nikāya The Digha Nikaya (dīghanikāya; "Collection of Long Discourses") is a Buddhist scriptures collection, the first of the five Nikāyas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that compose the Pali Tipitaka of ...

'' scripture mentions that one person asked the Buddha, "Why did the residents of Kapilavastu do not respect the Brahmins?" This suggests that the people of Kapilavastu, the city of King Śuddhodana, were atheist, like the sage

Kapila Kapila ( sa, कपिल), also referred to as Cakradhanus, is a sage in Hindu tradition. According to Bhagavata Purana, he is the son of the sage Kardama and Devahuti, the daughter of the Svayambhuva Manu. Kardama had nine daughters, who wer ...

himself and his followers. Kapila was considered as a predecessor of the Buddha. Therefore, the existence and guidance of Brahmins at every stage of Buddha's life, or by his father's, is away from the truth. Rhys Davis, a researcher in the subject, has mentioned that "there was not any Brahminical influence in the

Sakya The ''Sakya'' (, 'pale earth') school is one of four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism, the others being the Nyingma, Kagyu, and Gelug. It is one of the Red Hat Orders along with the Nyingma and Kagyu. Origins Virūpa, 16th century. It depic ...

and

Koliya Koliya (Pāli: ) was an ancient Indo-Aryan clan of north-eastern South Asia whose existence is attested during the Iron Age. The Koliyas were organised into a (an aristocratic oligarchic republic), presently referred to as the Koliya Republ ...

s. There was not any caste system. There was not any King in Kapilvastu. There was no worship of human gods in Kapilvastu." (Part I and II)

Critical reception

'' Daily News and Analysis'' praised the performances of all the actors in ''Buddha'', says

aka Suddhodana Acting is first rated.

References

External links

Official Home Page

Official Twitter
{{Gautama Buddha, state=collapsed Indian period television series Indian historical television series Zee TV original programming 2013 Indian television series debuts Television series set in Ancient India Cultural depictions of Gautama Buddha DD National original programming Television series about Buddhism